No. 18 Indiana field hockey already had problems finding wins against No. 9 Iowa this season. The Hoosiers lost a Sept. 19 contest 3-2 and a Sept. 21 matchup 3-1 against the then-No. 11 Hawkeyes. With the stakes ramped up in their third showdown this season, Indiana knew its goal Thursday: survive and advance.
However, the Hoosiers could not get any of their six shots into the back of the net, as Indiana fell 1-0 to the Hawkeyes in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.
“It just takes one goal to go in to win the game,” Indiana head coach Kayla Bashore said postgame. “I'm proud of our team. I think that they fought really hard.”
The Cream and Crimson only got two shots on goal — from freshman forward Celia Arroyo Cabezudo and junior midfielder Inés Garcia Prado — which were both saved by redshirt senior goalkeeper Mia Magnotta.
Indiana had many opportunities inside the shooting circle, but the Hoosiers could not attempt a shot before the Hawkeyes swarmed the ball. Iowa turned its defense into offense, as the Hawkeyes produced 10 shots and nine penalty corners.
“We struggled a little bit with putting high pressure on them,” Bashore said. “That was something we wanted to dictate from the beginning, and their ball speed was really good, so it was really hard to close it down early on.”
Iowa junior midfielder Dionne van Aalsum scored the lone goal of the game in the sixth minute. Before the score, the Hawkeyes received five penalty corners to open the contest, and the Indiana defense could not get the ball out of the shooting circle.
After going down 1-0, Indiana’s offensive intensity increased to end the first quarter. The Hoosiers received their first penalty corner in the 11th minute, but mistakes led to Indiana turning the ball over.
Iowa matched the Hoosiers’ intensity in the second quarter, as neither team recorded a shot or penalty corner during the frame. Indiana had chances inside the 25-yard line that were plagued by bad passing and miscommunications.
The Hoosiers’ defense started to show cracks at the beginning of the second half. Iowa drew three penalty corners in the 32nd and 33rd minutes. However, Indiana didn’t put itself in a deeper deficit. Sophomore goalkeeper Sadie Canelli made a save with her blocker, and Garcia Prado blocked freshman midfielder Jordan Byers’ shot attempt.
As desperation set in for the Hoosiers, Indiana knew it needed to make changes. Senior back Emma Thompson was set up for only her second shot of the season on Indiana’s 47th-minute penalty corner.
“She drove this team, and she was the engine all season,” Bashore said. “You could just see her, you know, holding others accountable and really just pushing the team to be better.”
Her shot was blocked by the Hawkeyes, who raced down the field and inside Indiana’s shooting circle. Graduate forward Fréderique van Cleef was also able to get a shot off in the 47th minute, but junior midfielder Javi Baeza blocked her chance.
Time kept ticking away for the Hoosiers during the fourth quarter. Freshman forward Kiki Oomens had her shot attempt blocked in the 49th minute, before Garcia Prado’s attempt slid wide left on the goal in the 53rd minute.
Bashore then pulled Canelli from the net in the 56th minute to bring on an extra attacker, as the crowd of 523 people at Deborah Tobias Field in Bloomington kept up the support.
“You could really hear the crowd cheering, and I think that infused a lot of energy into the team,” Bashore said.
Indiana dominated possession in the last four minutes of the match, but Iowa was still able to hold off the Hoosiers. Arroyo Cabezudo’s shot attempt in the 57th minute went wide left after almost hitting the post.
With little time remaining on the clock, Iowa stalled out the rest of the time to likely end Indiana’s season on the Hoosiers’ home field.
Indiana tentatively finishes the season with a 9-9 overall record and a 4-4 record in the Big Ten. The Cream and Crimson could make the 18-team NCAA Tournament, but they were ranked No. 34 in the Rating Percentage Index coming into the game, meaning their chances are slim.
The Hoosiers turned their season around after starting 0-3 in conference play, showing the resilience Indiana had throughout its 2025 campaign. The Hoosiers also received their highest National Field Hockey Coaches Association poll ranking of the seven-season coach Bashore era, coming in at No. 17 on Oct. 28.
With Indiana making its first back-to-back conference tournament appearance since 2020-21 and having nine true freshmen on the roster, the Hoosiers will look to grow during the offseason to compete against powerhouse programs in the Big Ten for seasons to come.
“We've gotten to the Big Ten Tournament twice now, and now it's, ‘how do we get out of the first round?’” Bashore said. “We got to have that determination, that motivation. I think that they're going to be hungry to do more and to want more.”
Follow reporter Sean McAvoy (@sean_mc07 and semcavoy@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana field hockey season.
